A Work Of Art
by Dusk4224
Summary: Ezra and Sabine attempt to reclaim one of Sabine's pieces of art and run afoul of the galaxy's most powerful crime syndicate.
1. Prologue

Nobody went to the Drunken Gundark. Literally nobody, the door to the small seedy bar in downtown Lothal City was almost always locked. This was not because the place was running out of business, but because the business itself didn't exist. The drunken Gundark was a front for one of the most exclusive black markets in the outer rim.  
Once you entered the building you were greeted by a speeder, piloted by a weequay in a black and gold uniform. He would lead you through a series of underground tunnels, until you reached the large underground structure in the middle of rural Lothal. The structure was full of large warehouses, each containing multiple art projects selling for ridiculously high prices.

This structure was run by a very old, very tired twi'lek. Ex-senator Orn Free Taa had escaped the purges of the republic senate and had survived on his vast sums of money. This was until it ran out. Orn Free Taa had very expensive tastes and needed a new source of income and fast.

That was when they had contacted him, the infamous Black Sun, a crime syndicate that spanned the galaxy. Their representative had explained that they were in need of someone to take over operations on Lothal. Orn Free Taa had agreed instantly and was shipped to Lothal the next day.

The old twi'lek stroked one of his lekku nervously, he'd been informed that a new piece of art would be arriving today and it was going to sell for more credits than he had amassed in all his years of embezzling credits while in the republic senate. He stared down at the gold and black robes he was wearing. The gold and black were the official colours of Black Sun but were not often given to non-members of the organisation. He walked out of his quarters and into the main hall of the exhibition rooms.

There in the centre of the room was a colossal crate, around it was a gaggle of Black Sun mercenaries. Their leader, a large human that Orn Free Taa only knew as The Enforcer, stepped towards him.  
"Ah, Mr Free Taa you've arrived" the humans voice was smooth but with a slight edge to it. He turned to the towering crate, "Shall we see our next big seller. Open her up boys!" His last sentence was roared and the mercenaries heaved open the front of the crate.

Orn Free Taa's mouth fell open, inside the crate was an imperial AT-ST. It had been sprayed in a manic mix of oranges, pinks and purple's.  
The Enforcer turned to the astounded Twi'lek "That's nothing, wait till you see the back." He led the ex-senator round to the back of the walker. More of the paint that had coated the front was back here, the entire thing was covered head to metal foot. But there on the AT-ST's back plate was a blood red decal. It was the skull of a Mythosaur, a mighty creature of legend prised by the people of Mandalor it's skull a symbol of their warriors.  
"It's another one by the Mighty Mando" Orn Free Tar almost squealed in pure joy. "But I thought he only Tagged walls?" Orn's question was met by a chuckle from the human next to him.  
"Who cares what this guy does. As long as they keep working, we keep earning." The human roared with laughter and Orn Free Taa joined him, his lekku jiggling in excitement.  
The Ex-senator, now black sun partner, suddenly grew deathly silent "Contact the buyers. Let's earn some money!"


	2. Chapter 1

Ezra Bridger sat on his bunk, staring at the wall across from him. He tapped his foot impatiently the noise both aggravating and soothing his nervous mind. Ever since their encounter with Vader Ezra had been on edge.  
When Sabine had demanded that they speak in his room he expected the worst. His mind raced with all the possible tragedies that could have transpired while the crew was out on a supply run. Capture, death and fire were three that he just couldn't keep out his head.  
So when his door swished open Ezra sprung up from his bunk smacking his head on the edge of the top bunk. He sprawled onto the floor just as Sabine entered the cabin. She stared down at the young padawan, despite the blank expression of her pink helmet he knew she was smiling or at least smirking.

"More training, mighty Jedi?" she droned sarcastically.  
Ezra smiled up at her goofily "of course, what else could I be doing?"

"I'm not sure, but your forehead is bleeding." Ezra's hand shot up to his forehead and felt an apparent lack of blood. The boy shot a glare at the young Mandalorian who was leaning against the wall, chuckling softly to herself.

"What do you want Sabine?" Ezra grumbled. The teen Jedi realised that his self-injury had distracted him from finding out what Sabine needed him for.

Sabine planted herself on Ezra's bed, taking off her helmet and beginning to speak. "Some imperial delegates were in the market square, they were getting stormtroopers to wreck people's stalls. So I snuck into their transport and stole their holopads." While she told the story Ezra noticed that her hands moved with every other word. "On one of the holopads was a message from an anonymous contact about a new art acquisition."

Ezra rolled his eyes at the teen perched on his mattress "What does it have to do with us." His voice was provocative but with an obvious hint of mirth.

His comment got him a venomous glare from the young warrior. "It's my art! They have a whole collection of it, chunks of walls I tagged, posters I've put up, even my greatest work of art." Ezra's eyes widened at this, Sabine had always been incredibly secretive about what she described as her greatest project. Ezra suddenly noticed the young Mandalorian's shoulders were slumped and she looked heartbroken. "I need to get it back Ezra" her voice was practically a whisper and it cracked a little half way through.

Ezra's complexion changed instantly from a cheeky grin to a furious scowl. He wasn't sure who owned this auction but he was going to hurt them, he was going to make them wish they'd never, ever hurt the beautiful girl he was talking to. Ezra stood and reached for Sabine's hands clutching them in his own. "We'll get it back Sabine. I promise" Ezra's voice was quiet and Sabine could see the hate in his eyes.

After several minutes of clinging each other's hands Sabine finally spoke "If we're going to do this I'll need a few things."

Sabine had informed Hera of the mission and despite the pilot's initial outburst she agreed to help them. The two women then made Ezra stand in the centre of the room while they took a variety of measurements. This took close to an hour and was pretty much uneventful. With the exception of when Sabine had to measure Ezra's inside leg. As she brought the tape up his leg, Ezra winked at her and whispered "Hey Sabine" She looked up at him curiously. "Buy me dinner first" This led to Sabine slamming Ezra in the back of the knee and the boy crumpling to the floor yelping in pain.

She knelt next to him and flicked his nose, "Food for thought eh." The two females left him there while they went to go buy resources for the mission. Ezra eventually stood to find a collection of hollow discs on the table with "Watch me" written on a piece of paper next to them. He placed one into the board in the centre of the area. An Imperial Officer flickered into life in the centre of the board.  
"Greetings" He spoke in a smooth neutral accent typical of the central imperial worlds. "You are watching disk one of the imperial social etiquette course." Ezra's head collided with the board with an audible thud.

Hera and Sabine arrived to an eerily quiet ship. With Kannan, Zeb and Chopper off on a mission the ship was already quiet. The two women headed into the common area to find Ezra sitting with his feet up on one of the tables. His hair was slicked back and he looked directly at Sabine. Hera, realising that the two teens may want privacy, left for the cockpit carrying a bag of supplies with her. Ezra stalked towards the blue haired Mandalorian and began walking around her as a shark would circle a feeding frenzy.  
Sabine jumped when Ezra finally spoke "Are you not an exquisite specimen." Sabine almost screamed, His voice was formal, low and Imperial. The young Jedi reached forward and took her hand in his, lifted it too his mouth and placed a gentle kiss on it. Sabine retracted her hand quickly a look of pure horror on her face. While she couldn't deny that the kiss on her hand had made her stomach flip, this wasn't right, he wasn't right, he wasn't her Ezra. It was just then she noticed it, the flicker of a grin at the side of his mouth.

"Ezra Bridger you unbelievable ass!" She reached for his throat as he cackled but he ducked out the way. Sabine picked up a bag by her side and threw it at him. "Go put that on you, you, Idiot." She stormed into her room with the other bag she had carried into the ship.

Ezra was surprised to see an impeccable suit inside the bag, he headed to his room and slowly put the clothes on. It was black, impossibly so with a white shirt and deep purple tie. He had put most of it on but was having trouble tightening the tie. He half-walked half-stumbled into the main corridor of the Ghost. He moved to the common area and perched himself on a table, his hands moving quickly to the purple challenge around his neck. He heard the sounds of someone walking up behind him. A pair of slender hands came from over his shoulders and gently pushed his down to his sides.  
"Let me get that for you." Sabine's voice had a hint of a laugh to it but was mostly affectionate. She slowly tightened his tie taking time to make it as neat as possible. Once she had finished her arms retracted from round his shoulders and Ezra slowly turned around.  
Sabine was clad in a beautiful, purple dress the same shade as Ezra's tie. It was modest but still showed some of her feminine curves. Ezra fell in love instantly, this was not to say that he did not already love her much more than he did anything else, but it was like he had just relived every moment since they had met all over again. All the pain, all the triumph, all the hardship and most of all the love.

"Sabine you look beautiful" his voice was deep and sincere every word making Sabine's eyes briefly flash with joy.

"You're not too bad yourself" the quip did not hide Sabine's affection for the young boy well. Sabine took the Padawan's hand and lead him out of the Ghost. There was a speeder waiting for them, Hera sitting in the front looked up at the two teen's as they sat down behind her.

"ready to go?" Hera asked settling into the driver's seat.

"Yes" responded Sabine and Ezra with looks of steely determination.

The two teens stood outside the broken down bar door looking nervous. To gain entry, Sabine had read in the message earlier, they had to simply knock on the door and say a password. Ezra reached his hand forward and rapped on the door. Speaking loud enough for the people on the other side of the door to hear the boy proclaimed "The Black Sun swallows the day." The teen's stood in apprehensive silence as the door slowly creaked open. They were met by the grinning face of a Weequay in a black and gold uniform.  
"Good evening Sir and Madam," his voice was rough and discomforting "right this way." He lead them through to a large room with a collection of speeders, each piloted by another weequay. He lead them to the closest one and the two teens climbed in. The weequay from the door grinned at them " have a nice night." The speeder lurched into action and sped through a tunnel at the far end of the room. The two rebels sought out each other's hands as they descended into the dark.


	3. Chapter 2

The speeder trip took close to half an hour the undercover rebels sitting in tense silence. When they started to climb the gradual incline towards the tunnels exit the two teens gazed at each other with great relief. They arrived in a room almost identical to the one back in Lothal City. The room had a pair of double doors on the far wall which were swung open to reveal a cavernous hall next door. The two teens stepped out of the speeder, still hand in hand, and headed towards the door. They had nearly made it through when a burly man stepped in front of them.  
He was colossal, his piercing green eyes glaring down at the two of them. He was bald, with brown stubble around his mouth. His arms and legs were muscular and he had a long vibro-blade on his back.

"Good evening Sir and to you Madam. If you do not mind me enquiring what brings you to our auction this evening, I do not recognise either of you from the buyers list." His voice was smooth like honey but Ezra could sense the violence behind it.

Ezra could feel Sabine preparing to spring into action so spoke quickly to diffuse the situation. "My acquaintance and I heard about this auction from a couple of friends of ours." Ezra thought quickly "The Batari's" Ezra recalled the names of the delegates from their emails. "Once they told us we simple had to rush over here, we were on Mandalor you see." This answer seemed to sooth the man mountain and he allowed them to pass. The two teen's walked through the doors and let out a sigh of relief. The large art hall, was full of dignitaries with varying amounts of security. They stood admiring chunks of wall with beautiful murals in spray paint. All hand one thing in common, the skull of a Mythosaur a mark of the Mandalorians. The two teens performed a quick circuit of the room looking for whatever Sabine's masterpiece was, Ezra was still uncertain of this as the young Mandalorian would still not share the information. Sabine's chest sunk "There's no sign of it. They must be keeping it in another room." It was at that moment the two rebels heard the loud braying laughter. Their heads whipped round to see an old Twi'lek standing nearby. He walked towards them stroking a Lekku, "You are looking for the newest piece, no? It is in the next hall, I'm afraid you and your girlfriend will have to wait."  
"We're not date-" Ezra had begun to protest but the ex-senator had drifted off towards a nearby door. Sabine grabbed the young Jedi's hand and lead him to follow. They watched Orn Free Taa open the door and exit the room. The two rebels followed him, they were unable to pass through due to the nearby density of guards, all wearing the traditional black and gold. They stood next to the control panel of the door, Sabine leaning against the wall and Ezra stood in front of her. Sabine used one hand to start rewiring the door and kept an eye for detection over Ezra's shoulder. Two nearby guards were starting to show an interest in the pair. Sabine, noticing this, needed a way to avert their gazes from her busy hands. She grabbed Ezra by the collar and pulled him into a deep kiss.  
Ezra's mind melted his hands instinctively reaching to cup Sabine's face. His eyes closed and he let himself forget, forget the trouble they were in, forget the heartbreak he'd faced, forget everything but the beautiful Sabine Wren. The two guards, noticing the young couple everted their gazes and walked away. Sabine pressed the final button on the door control's and it swished open. Despite the accomplishment of their task Sabine didn't pull away from the kiss, instead she wrapped her now free hand round the boys neck. The stayed there kissing for a good few minutes before they eventually broke apart. Sabine grinned at the boy, grabbed his hand and lead him through the door.

The next Hall was smaller than the previous with a large exit on one wall, it's blast door we currently sealed. In the rooms centre was a colossal Imperial AT-ST. It was covered in paint of varying colours but all typical of Sabine. In front of it stood Orn Free Taa mesmerised by the giant in front of him. As they walked towards him silently Sabine hiked up her dress to grab her blasters which were strapped to her lower leg. She then reached for a chain round her neck, and slowly pulled Ezra's lightsabre from round her neck and tossed it to him.

The young Mandalorian crept behind the Twi'lek and levelled both her weapons at the back of his head. The twi'lek whipped round at the sound of the guns being activated. He jumped back, slipped and landed at the foot of the walker.

"What are you doing!" The Twi'lek's voice was cracked and he looked terrified.

Sabine loomed over him guns levelled ready to fire "You stole from me, You took my work and sold it for money. You butchered what it stood for, just for a cheap profit." Sabine's voice was dark and quavering with emotion. "I'm going to kill you, you pitiful old man."  
Ezra lunged forwards grabbing Sabine's arm "Sabine you can't do this, it's not who you are. You have to stop, please!"

At the last word Sabine seemed to come out of a trance she dropped her weapons and wrapped her arms around the young Jedi. Ezra could feel her shaking against him.

"Thank you so much, you saved my life, she was going to kill me." Sabine looked down at the simpering twi'lek.

"Shut up" Her foot collided with his face with an almighty crack. The Twi'lek slumped to the floor. Sabine looked at the disapproving teen next to her. "What? I didn't kill him."


	4. Chapter 3

Ezra wished that Orn Free Taa could've weighed slightly less, but instead the young Jedi had to climb the walker with the equivalent of three weeks supplies on his back. He opened the hatch of the AT-ST and threw the Twi'lek inside. He poked his head through the hole and saw Sabine working feverishly at the controls.  
"Sabine are we ready to move?" The boys voice was panicked but controlled.  
Sabine's response was short and stern "Yes! I've messaged Hera our coordinates and she'll be arriving with a cargo ship any minute, quick go open the blast doors!" Ezra leapt off the walkers roof and headed for the door controls. He scoured them for the correct button and slammed his palm down on it once it was found.  
Just as Ezra was about to return to the walker, he was met by a gigantic fist thrust into his stomach. Ezra crumpled the wind knocked out of him. He looked up to see the towering goliath of a man that had stopped them earlier.

"I knew there was something off about you two! But I figured it was that Mando brat not you." The man's voice had lost its calmness from earlier and was instead a deep snarl.

Upon hearing the way his assailant spoke about Sabine, Ezra pushed himself up to face the goliath and drew his lightsabre. As the blade flickered to life the large man took a step back.  
"You're a Jedi!" His face changed from one of mocking self-confidence, to one of stern determination. "I've always wanted to kill a Jedi." He pulled the blade from his back and swung for Ezra. Their blades clashed in a flicker of sparks again and again. After each blow The Enforcer would take a step forward, slowly gaining ground. Ezra was unable to put up with the man's vicious strikes for much longer. The young Jedi attempted to dodge a blow but was met by a huge fist slamming into him.  
The man kicked Ezra in the gut sending the boy reeling but was momentarily distracted by the loud thuds of the AT-ST making its way towards them. The giant turned to face the metallic colossus and roared "What you want a go too brat!" The noise of his exclamation was drowned out by the guns of the walker. The blast from the colossuses weapons sent the man reeling, before he collapsed never to kill again. Ezra moved to the man's corpse and picked up the fallen vibroblade, holding that in his off-hand and his lightsabre in the other he moved to the walker. He clambered onto the roof just as the door at the far end of the room swished open and guards flocked in. Despite his precarious position on the walker, Ezra began deflecting as much of the blaster fire as he could. The walker had cleared the doors and they could see the large freighter that was here to pick them up, Hera had obviously called in a favour to get them this ship. The freighters minimal cannons fired at the structure in the hope of securing the teens escape. After what seemed like a millennia of blocking fire, the walker had reached the ship. The cargo ramp closed behind the walker and the ship made a quick escape to orbit.

Ezra and Sabine sat in the hanger of Ahsoka's flag ship. It was not a large ship but it had enough room to place the walker, in all its great glory, in its centre. The two teens were waiting to be called up to the bridge their latest escapade gaining the rebel leader's attention. Sabine had snuggled up to Ezra as they sat at the foot of the walker. She was resting her head on his lap as he stroked her hair affectionately. She sighed and rolled onto her back so she could look up at the young Jedi.  
"That was eventful" Sabine's voice was jovial but her joy didn't reach her eyes. She looked tired and Ezra didn't blame her. They sat in silence after that Sabine's eyelids flickering closed as she slowly fell asleep. Ezra slowly took of his jacket and draped it over the sleeping girl. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Ezra could see Hera walking towards them, her face calm and collect. She indicated for the boy to follow and he nodded his affirmation before gently scooping up the young Mandalorian. They walked towards the ghost in silence.

Sabine woke in her cabin, alone. The room was silent and the bed was warm. The girl bunched the covers around her and snuggled deep into the duvet. She had almost drifted to sleep when she heard the knock at the door.

"Sabine?" Ezra's voice drifted through the door like a leaf on an autumn wind. He opened the door and crouched next to the nest of duvet and pillows she had created in her sleep. "How are you doing Sabine?" His voice was full of concern and love, his hand reaching up to stroke her hair gently. She sat herself up in bed and looked at the young Jedi. He was without a shirt, probably because of the large number of bandages wrapped around his torso.  
Sabine extended a hand and gentle brushed it over his left side. "That guy really did a number on you huh?" Ezra nodded wincing in pain. Sabine slid towards the wall and patted the bed next to her. "Come sit here great hero" her voice was a gentle, teasing but Ezra still accepted her offer. They sat together just enjoying the company until Sabine turned to face Ezra, "what you did, no, what you stopped me from doing, Thank you." Sabine was expecting a boyish laugh and a cheap joke, what she got was a deep loving kiss. Ezra moved one hand to her side and the other to her cheek. The young Mandalorian melted into the Jedi's arms and returned the kiss with passion. Sabine broke the kiss moving from his mouth to his neck placing light butterfly kisses wherever she could. Ezra pulled her back to him reinstating the kiss. Sabine sighed deeply finally she thought everything is going to be alright.

Ex-Senator Orn Free Taa wasn't completely sure where he was. The room he was in was small, dark and metallic. He tried to reach for his broken nose but his hands were bound. The purple something binding his hands together was tough and looked like an awful lot like a tie. It was at this moment that he realised where he was, he was inside the walker. He reached for the exit hatch but it was sealed, he dived for the controls but they were powered down and he didn't have a clue how it worked. He decided his only way out was to make as much noise as possible.  
The hanger was deathly silent what with most people on board the craft asleep. In the centre of the room was a mighty monument to the heroes of Lothal. Holographic versions of Kannan, Hera, Zeb and Chopper stood in front of the walker looking fierce. On its roof were more holograms one of a boy, lightsabre in hand, back to back with a girl, her Mandalorian armour detailed and her arms outstretched blasters in hand.

The Walker had kept most of its original colours and looked no worse for ware and every once in a while, the silence of the hangar was interrupted by a shout for help.


End file.
